Remote Assistance

Remote Assistance Must be Pre-arranged with I.T. Support Staff

If you are having difficulty accomplishing a task on a computer, or having an unusual error which you would like support staff to see, I.T. support may elect to offer you remote assistance.

Remote Assistance allows support staff to see what you are doing and offer assistance either by temporarily taking control of your screen (with your permission) or chatting/speaking directly with you as you accomplish a task yourself.

Remote assistance begins with a phone call to or from the technician. He or she will confirm that you are presently logged onto the computer and ready to begin.

When the technician initiates the remote assistance session, a window containing a password will appear on your computer:

The technician will confirm that you see this window, and might ask you to confirm the password before proceeding. You will know your technician is successfully connecting when you see a window asking permission for him/her to connect:

Click Yes to allow help from the technician. Your desktop background will turn black (to indicate a remote assistance session has started), and a small Windows Remote Assistance window will open:

As long as this Remote Assistance window is open, your technician is able to see what you
see and assist you. You can move this window out of the way in the same
manner you move any other window, but if you close this window, your
remote assistance session will end.

Continue with the task you need assistance on. To communicate with your technician, you can click on the Chat item in the Windows Remote Assistance window and initiate a chat (your technician may also elect to initiate the chat). Note that during a chat, you are "SYSTEM" and the technician will appear by name as he/she responds to you:

Again, leave this window open (whether you are chatting or not) until you are done with the remote assistance session. Your technician can chat with you about your problem through this window (and you can chat with the technician). The technician can see everything on your screen and can continue conversation with you via the chat window.

To end the remote assistance session, simply close this window. The remote assistance session will immediately close.